The death of Jane Bashara has prompted a widely publicized investigation into the circumstances of her death. Bashara was a marketing executive and a resident of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. On January 25, 2012, she was found dead in the back seat of her Mercedes SUV in an alley in Detroit, Michigan. The cause of death was strangulation. Law enforcement officials have named Bashara's husband, Bob Bashara, as a person of interest. Joe Gentz, a mentally impaired handyman, was arrested in March 2012 and charged with first degree murder after reportedly telling police that Bob Bashara had paid him $2,000 and an old Cadillac to murder his wife. No charges have been filed against Bob Bashara, though prosecutors have noted that the criminal investigation is ongoing.

After Gentz gets 17-28 years in Jane Bashara's death, her family says the case is still not overFebruary 20, 2013

Jane Bashara's sister said her family feels strongly that Tuesday's sentencing of a man who admitted to killing the Grosse Pointe Park mother isn't the end of the case.

Former handyman Joseph Gentz was sentenced by Wayne Circuit Judge Vonda Evans to serve 17-28 years in prison for Bashara's death.

She told Gentz, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December and agreed to testify truthfully in any proceedings, that he wanted to feel empowered and needed by "a person who used you to achieve his goal: freedom from his marriage."

Gentz has said Bob Bashara, Jane Bashara's husband, offered him money to kill his wife and threatened him if he didn't go through with it -- a claim that Bob Bashara denies.

"Mr. Gentz had no motive to murder our sister Jane," Julie Engelbrecht Rowe, Jane Bashara's sister, said at the sentencing. "We believe his statement that he was coerced into murdering her."

She said Gentz knew his actions were wrong, and he should be held accountable.

"Every single day of our lives we will be haunted by how Jane was taken from this world," she said. "No human being should be killed, but especially not in the cruel and coldhearted manner in which Jane was murdered."

Engelbrecht Rowe said her sister's death left an open wound in her family that will never heal.

"Our healing will begin when the whole truth is known and all who were involved are held accountable," she said.

She never mentioned Bob Bashara by name as she spoke in the Detroit courtroom.

He admits to conspiring to hit Gentz which is BAD NEWS for him but not necessarily proof of guilt in his wife's murder. And trying to get the girlfriend to move . . . Gentz may not be totally believable, but Worthy says they have other witnesses so this should be interesting.

Bob Bashara requests use of laptop for document review as March 3 trial approachesBy Gus Burns on December 10, 2013 at 11:08 AM, updated December 10, 2013 at 12:30 PM

DETROIT, MI - Grosse Pointe Park's Bob Bashara, accused of the Jan. 24, 2012 murder of his wife, 56-year-old Jane Bashara, has requested use of a laptop computer to review court documents in the case against him.

He appeared in court for a pretrial conference Tuesday and will return Jan. 31 for a motion hearing on multiple issues, said a representative for Judge Vonda Evans.

The trial is scheuduled to begin March 3.

According to the Department of Corrections website, Bashara is being housed at the Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee. He'll celebrate his 56th birthday behind bars Thursday.

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A judge said Tuesday that she will consider whether a suburban Detroit man charged in the strangulation of his wife should be allowed to use a laptop computer in jail to review legal documents.

Robert Bashara, 55, appeared Tuesday in Wayne County Circuit Court, where he’s charged with first-degree murder in the death of 56-year-old Jane Bashara, who beaten and strangled at the couple’s Grosse Pointe Park home in January 2012. Her body was found in her Mercedes-Benz, which was abandoned in Detroit.